The History of
Genesee County, MI
Chapter XIV
Lumbering & Allied Industries

Online Edition by
Holice, Deb & Clayton

CHAPTER XIV.

Lumbering and Allied Industries.

The pioneer beginnings of the lumber industry in Genesee county have
been traced in connection with preceding chapters; a word might be added
as to the "modus operandi" of lumbering in the early days.

In the earlier period of the lumbering activity, the individual
ownership of the timber lands along the river operated to make the
logging business simpler in method than afterwards prevailed. The custom
in the early time was to established a camp at some place on the lands
to be cut over; this consisted of a building of logs or slabs
temporarily made, with provision for cooking and bunking the men. The
ideal camp was a long house, with bunks along the sides, a long table in
the middle and a kitchen in one end. Ample provision was made for fires
to warm it in winter, the time of activity.

The men, who were called "lumber jacks," were generally
young men, whose fathers were the farmers in the vicinity; and even the
fathers joined in during the winter when the period of farming did not
demand their attention or when they could give a portion of their time
from the clearing of their own land.

The routine of the camp was, "early rising" on the part of
the teamsters and the cook and his assistant, the preparation of the
breakfast and the feeding of the teams. The breakfast, which was eaten
by candle-light, was of pancakes, black strap, pork, or fresh meat when
obtainable, beans, potatoes, all seasoned by the appetite of young and
hearty men accustomed to work. The morning light found these men out in
the woods; two choppers working together with two sawmen made up a gang.
At this period the trees were felled by the choppers, and then cut into
logs of the proper length by the sawmen. The swampers cut out the roads
and hauled the logs cut by the gang out to the skidway, where the
skidders aided the teamsters to roll the logs down into the skids. Oxen
were used exclusively in the hauling of the logs from the woods to the
skidways. The skidways were numerous and the logs were rolled on, or
"skidded," with reference to convenience of loading, to haul
to the banking grounds.

There was a wholesome rivalry between various gangs, each trying to
show results in larger production of logs; the pay of the men depended
upon the amount of work accomplished and varied from twenty-two to
thirty dollars per month, with board. In later time the gang was
decreased in number to three men, one chopper and two sawmen; this
resulted from the custom of sawing the tree down, instead of chopping it
down. The chopper, or axeman, cut two cuts opposite each other in the
sides of the tree, and the sawmen regulated their work by these axe
cuts. The tree when felled was measured by the axemen who made the cuts
to show where ti should be sawed into logs, the length from twelve to
eighteen feet; the nature of the tree as to straightness determined the
length; most of the logs, if the tree allowed it, were sixteen feet
long, or twice the length of the axemen's pole, which was eight feet
long. The judgment of the axeman as to which way the tree should fall,
and how when felled, it should be cut into logs, was of great value; an
unskilled man could case considerable loss by an error of judgment in
either case.

The handling of the logs from the skidway to the banking grounds was
done on wide sleds, as wide as eight feet, which contained, when
skillfully loaded a large number of logs. At the banking ground these
were made into solid piles, or banks, each containing a large number of
logs and all being the property of some firm or company. These logs were
so piled as to enable them to be dropped into the river by the least
possible work and as near the same time as possible. When the river was
at running stage in the spring, these banking grounds were the scenes of
great activity. The logs were gotten into the river in a short time, and
when these, the aggregate of the logs comprised a "run." The
size of the river precluded its long-continued occupancy for a run, so
each owner took every care to get his run into the river at the proper
time with great expedition, and then to run it down as past as possible,
so as not to interfere with others likewise engaged. As the river was a
highway, the use of it was open to everyone, but the etiquette of the
lumbermen led him to do all that could be done to avoid two runs getting
together, and mingling the lops of different owners. The run once
started, the river men and all the lumber jacks were river men of more
or less skill--kept it going until the logs were delivered to the mill.
This was the method of the early days of the lumbering industry in
Genesee county along the river. It was confined to the river entirely,
but the stream that fell into the river were also of utility in running
logs. It is to be observed, however, that the Thread creek was never
used as a runway for logs, as the pines that attracted the lumbermen did
not thrive in the basin of that stream; while along the banks of the
flint river, in the spring, twenty million or more feet of logs might be
found.

The lumbering business brought into the vernacular of the people
various terms that would be unknown to the people of today. The "swampers,'
who made the roads in the woods fro the logs as felled and cut by the
gang; the "skidders," piled the logs on the skidway' the
"jam crackers," who broke out the logs that held back a jam,
and so released the same, and the "sackers,' who searched out the
logs that had gone astray into bayous, or low water, and so got
grounded. The latter, often four to a log, got into the water and eased
the log out into deep water, or "sacked" it out.

The development of the business to much greater importance resulted
in another change, which was the organization of the boom company. When
the experience of the men who managed the logging operations had shown
the inconvenience and extra work involved in the skidding of the logs,
the removal of the banking ground, and the running of each man's or
firm's logs separately, with the danger of one run striking another and
so mingling the logs of the two owners, it was determined that the boom
plan was more economic. By this plan the Flint river was boomed for five
miles or so up the stream above the Hamilton dam, and each mill owner
secured boom rights at some place along this reach or river. the logs
were then dropped into the river at any convenient place, and allowed to
run down as they might; often the river was full from Flint to
Columbiaville. These logs were marked with the owner's mark, and in one
instance we find the mark made as a matter of record, as stated in the
old records of Flint township. the men who run the logs were employed
not by the mill owners, but by the boom company and they worked at the
logs all summer, generally as many as forty men finding steady work in
summer. The logs were run down the river and a man at each boom pulled
the logs belonging to the boom owners into the opening made by a
swinging boom that ran out into the passage in the middle of the river;
the logs so boomed were arranged with reference to economy of space, and
as needed, were run down to the mill. The logs of the various mill
owners were made a basis for an assessment of the expenses of the boom
operations and thus all danger of the earlier runs was avoided.

The river had its tragedies. In 1865 three men tried to run a log
down near Columbiaville and the big end grounded on the apron of the
dam; a log turned, throwing them off, and two of the three, Harrison
Spencer and Ezra Collins, drowned, while Mack Lyman was saved.

The river men responded when the war came and most all of them went
out to serve in the military forces of the United States. It is said of
them that they made the very best of soldiers, and certainly the
preparation in camp, as axe men, as swampers, as skidders, as jam
crackers and sackers, was a school for the solider that made for
obedience to superiors, discipline and efficiency.

It remains to consider the wonderfully rapid development of the
lumber industry in the period during and immediately subsequent to the
Civil War. In 1862 the Flint & Pere Marquette railway was opened fro
traffic between Flint and Saginaw, and other lines were soon afterwards
opened; by affording means of rapid transportation to outside markets,
these roads gave a tremendous impulse to all branches of business in the
county, especially to lumbering. This region, together with the
increased demand for lumber created by the great Civil War, inaugurated
for the lumbering interests of the Flint river valley an era of
unexampled prosperity. It extended from about 1866 to the great
revulsion which came with the financial panic of 1874-74. The zenith of
prosperity was reached in the years 1869-71/ then began a gradual
decline. In 1870 nine mills were in operation in flint with an annual
capacity of ninety million feet of lumber. They employed over five
hundred men. Their value ran up tp a half million dollars. In 1878-79
there were but three in operation, employing less than half as many men
and cutting but little over a third as many feet. The supply of logs was
at that time rapidly diminishing on the upper waters of Flint river.
Lumber production for export was approaching its end. Shingles were
being extensively made, however, from old logging fields. The supply in
Genesee county was already so far exhausted that only two small tracts
remained, on section 15 in Forest township and a tract of less than
fifteen acres in the township of Richfield. After that, lumbering was
continued largely by importing pine from Saginaw and neighboring
counties.

One of the most famous lumbering establishments in the county was the
Crapo mills, at Flint. In 1856 henry H. Crapo, with characteristic
forethought, conceived the idea of competing not only with the principal
lumbering marts of the Eastern and Middle states, but with foreign
countries. He came to Michigan in 1855, shortly after which he purchased
for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a large tract of pine land in
this region. It was his intention at the time to lumber this tract and
float the logs to Saginaw, but shortly after, or nearly in 1856, he
visited Flint and became satisfied that here was the point at which to
manufacture this timber into lumber. In 1856 he purchased the "Walkley"
mill and during the summer of 1857 manufactured about two million feet
of lumber, which was considered in those days an extensive business. As
this mill was shut in by the property of McQuigg, Turner & Company,
owners of the mill near the dam, he conceived the plan of purchasing
that also. In the fall 1857 he effected its purchase and in both mill
during the season of 1858 manufactured about seven million feet of
lumber. By March, 1858,m he had his business thoroughly established. He
returned to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where his family were residing,
and moved with them to Flint. After this time the "old Mills"
were improved by the addition of new machinery. They were soon run to a
capacity of twelve million feet per annum, even before any railroad was
projected to Flint. Before the construction of the Flint & Holly
railroad, which was built largely by the energy of Mr. Crapo, the good
lumber sawed at these mills was hauled by teams to Holly and Fentonville,
to the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad, and from these points shipped
east and south.

In1860 Mr. Crapo purchased on the opposite side of the Flint river
the mill known as the "Busenbark" mill, which he ran two years
and afterwards sold. In 1864 the large planing-mill sash, door and
blind-factory was added to his business and turned out annually many
millions feet of dressed lumber, as well as large quantities of sash,
door, blinds, mouldings and boxes. The old "Walkley" mill was
destroyed by fire in the season of 1865, but fortunately little lumber
was burned with it owing to the rule always adhered to of keeping the
space about the mills clean. Hardly had the ruins of this mill become
cold when he debris was cleared away and the foundation of a larger mill
was laid. This mill, with the old mill at the dam, had a capacity for
sawing over twenty million feet per annum, and the two mills were run to
nearly that limit until the old mill was burned in 1877. This immense
amount of lumber has found a market principally at the East and south,
and some of it has even been shipped to San Francisco around Cape Horn.
The saw-mill and planing-mill were later shipped with all the modern
improvements for the manufacture of lumber and sash, doors, blinds,
mouldings and packing-boxes.

Henry H. Crapo, the founder of this large business and governor of
Michigan for two terms--1864-68--died at Flint in July, 1869, but the
business was continued without any material change under the able
management of his only son, William W. Crapo. William Crapo Durant, a
grandson of Governor Crapo, received his first business training in the
Crapo mill and yard.

The impetus thus given by Mr. Crapo was soon followed by Alexander
McFarland, William Hamilton and Messrs. Begole, Atwood, Fox, Carpenter,
Smith and Eddy. Alexander McFarlan's mills were established in 1850, the
firm at that time having been Hazelton & McFarlan. In May of the
following year the mills were destroyed by fire and Mr. McFarland
purchased the interest of his partner and rebuilt; in April 1863, they
were again burned and immediately rebuilt; again, 1871, they were
pursued by fire and destroyed and larger mills erected. The material
worked was altogether pine, the logs being cut from timber-lands owned
by the proprietor in Genesee and Lapeer counties and floated down the
Flint River. The power employed was steam. Two circular saws of large
dimensions were run, also apparatus for cutting lath and shingles. The
capacity of the mills reached eleven million feet a year. These mills
were distinguished as being the oldest on the Flint river.

The lumber-mills of Begole, Fox & company were established in
September, 1865. The partners, were Josiah W. Begole, David S. fox and
George L. Walker. They ranked among the heaviest lumber dealers in the
city and were large manufacturers of lath and shingles.

Jerome eddy's mill was built in the year 1868 on the corner of
Kearsley and Island Street. it has a capacity for dressing ten million
feet of lumber, manufacturing about ten thousand doors and a
corresponding number of sash and blinds per annum. A destructive fire
consumed the first mill erected, but Mr. Eddy immediately rebuilt it. In
three months from the time it was burned one of the most perfect and
complete mills in the state took its place.

The firm of Newall & company was one of the oldest establishments
engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds. It was established
in 1855, embracing as partners Thomas Newall, George E. Newall and S. C.
Randall. The firm of Beardslee, Gillies & company built a planing-mill
in 1867 and the next year added the manufacture of boxes. Hiram Smith's
mills built in 1877, made a specialty of handling hardwood. Decker &
Haskell's stave-mill had their origin in 1870. They were devoted
entirely to the manufacture of staves and headings. In May, 1874, a fire
destroyed the mill and much of the stock, but new buildings and
machinery soon took the place of the old. The factory of W. B. Pellett
was established in 1874 to manufacture sash, doors, and blinds, but
later made a specially of extension tables.

A SUMMARY OF THE LUMBER SITUATION.

F. A. Aldrich, in sketching the industrial history of Flint, has well
summed up the facts about the great period of lumbering in Genesee
county and its relation to manufacturing industries allied to and
growing out of it. Speaking of the fifties, he says:

The time for expansion had arrived. The knowledge of the resources of
the country, the possibilities, the men to accomplish things, the money,
had all awaited the ripening of events, and all of these elements had
been moving steadily toward this period. There were a few saw-mills
along the banks of the river, doing a small business, but there was no
enormous output. What surplus was accumulated was hauled to Saginaw,
where there were shipping facilities, and where buys for Eastern yards
assembled cargoes from many similar sources to supply and shipped them
east by sailing vessels to Buffalo, and beyond via the Erie canal.
Albany was then the lumber distributing center of America and most of
Michigan's forest product found its way there. Explorations had shown
the great bodies of magnificent white pine forest in Lapeer and Tuscola
counties and in the northwestern corner of Genesee county. The
meanderings of the Flint river and its north and south branches made
pathways into the very heart of all this wealth of timber and seemed to
invite it to come out from its solitude of years to the glamour of
civilization and add to the making of a new era. A. McFarlan, William
Hamilton, H. H. Crapo, Begole-Fox & Company and J. B. Atwood &
company were the chief owners of thousands of acres of timber lands
along the banks of these streams and from small beginnings they evolved
an immense lumber business, so that the city and surrounding country
became dependent to a vast degree upon this industry. The original idea
was to float all the logs to Saginaw for milling, but the nature of the
river showed Flint to be pre-eminently the place for handling them. The
saw-mills could expand under the influences of management, money and
market, and the men in Flint possessed the first two of these elements
and the further aggressiveness of making an avenue to reach the market.
The plank road served for several years, but railroad facilities were
imperative. They came because the men of Flint said they must come, and
these men did their full share in promoting, capitalizing and even
operating. The first rail outlet was to Saginaw in 1862, followed
something over a year later by the connecting link between Flint and
Holly, making an all-rail route to the South and East.

All this was accomplished during war times, and with the close of
that tragedy came to leap in all kinds of commercial undertakings.
Thoughts and ambitions and efforts could be centered on material
domestic expansion and all things pertaining to industrial Flint were
ripe to take advantage of these conditions. Eight or ten miles had come
into operation at various points along the river front and millions of
feet of logs were being cut up in the forest sections, poured into the
river and floated to Flint. The whole industrial atmosphere was
surcharged with lumbering and the ramifications of the industry were
many, affecting innumerable interests. An army was gradually accumulated
in the woods with which communication must be maintained and to which
supplies must be forwarded. There must be a plan and system for driving
the logs from where the woodmen felled them, to the saw-mills resulting
in the Flint River Boom Company. Another army gathered around the mills,
running machines, sorting, piling, and shipping lumber. The selling
force was by no means a small one; the accounting for all the business
required another crop of helpers. So several thousand men were attracted
here and affiliated with this splendid enterprise. They were added to
the population of the town and had to be provided with homes. Building
flourished, attracting carpenters. They must needs eat and be clothed,
so that stores multiplied, with there attendant proprietors and clerks.
There was a steady train of wagons or sleighs, hauling foodstuffs into
the woods for men and beasts, and the country around the city was the
source of supply. Requirements of every sort were active, and every
element of trade participated in the prosperity of lumber.

The fame of Flint a a lumber center was wide and buyers were
stationed here to bid for the products of these mills r arrange for
special cuts that building requirements in any direction might demand.
Earnings were good and a splendid business training center came to
thousands of men who afterwards arrived at that stage where they took up
and have carried on the stream of prosperity that had its rise in the
primitive lumbering days, swelled into the rushing might flood of the
seventies, and was later to pass on in the deep, steady, strong current
of a fixed and diversified industrial activity. Statistics are not
particularly interesting and the billions of feet of lumber cut in Flint
count for little now except as leaving a legacy far more valuable than
the computed price of all the forest products that have passed through
Flint's gateways of commerce. That some of it weathered Cape Horn to
fill orders in San Francisco, or sought a market in Europe or Asia, is a
mere lesson in geography. Lumbering commenced to decline in the
eighties; it was history in the nineties, but it left wealth in homes,
property, mercantile enterprises, schools, churches and, equal to all
the rest, men--men who had been trained to meet emergencies, to
accomplish things, to work out problems and to succeed. It left women
who had made homes, homes indeed; it left a society that was welded
together by the unity of a common interest.

A CHANGE IN CHARACTER OF BUSINESS.

A few asked the question, "What next?" and o a very truth
for a year or two the destiny of Flint hung trembling in the balance.
More went to work with energy to create "Next." The character
of lumbering changed and for some years logs cut far to the north were
hauled in by trainloads, tumbled into the river, to follow the pathway
of their predecessors, up the gang and out in boards to waiting cars.
Lumber cut in mills that had followed the receding pine northward was
stopped off here, milled in planing-mills and forwarded as a dressed
product to the East. In the forests out of which Genesee county was
carved were great sections, or, in mining terms, pockets of hardwood,
and in the cleaning process such came to Flint in vast quantities in the
shape of bolts. To covert these into barrels, or barrel material, was
another manufacturing interest, which lasted for some time after the
pine lumbering had practically ceased and was one of the many industries
into which manufacturing business resolved itself as the supreme
lumbering interest were dissolving into fragments. So the planing and
stave mills superseded the saw-mills and the umber workers were still in
demand. Their earnings still swelled the sum total of domestic
transactions; their families still formed part of the social body and
their children were growing up for future commercial activities.

As the lumbering declined, some of the operatives purchased farms for
themselves in the openings and began working their own destinies. The
agricultural resources of the locality had vastly increased as the
cultivated areas enlarged and Flint was the market center. The Thread
grist-mill was at the high tide of its activity; had been rebuilt as a
thoroughly up-to-date merchant mill, and was buying all grain offered,
milling it into flour and shipping it far and wide. The Genesee Flouring
Mills had absorbed the attention of the Hamiltons that had formerly been
devoted to the saw-mill business, and this mill was also in the market
for the grain of the locality and was distributing it as a manufactured
product in all directions. Still another, the City Mills, came into
commission because of the great agricultural resources, and the
flour-milling activities of the city went a long way toward keeping up
the aggregate of business that might drop off by reason of the decline
in lumbering. The Thread Mill had been burned down, but the other two
mills have changed their equipment to modern requirements and are in
continuous operation. Their capacity is far beyond the local supply and
they ship in many cars of grain and distribute in all directions many
cars of milling products. Not only was the grain marketing and milling
active, but all farm products of the section were pouring into he food
store-houses of the work through the assembling point of Flint and
shipping increased rather than diminished from year to year. This is
equally true today and, while not strictly to be classed as a
manufacturing interest, it would not be fair to withhold from
agriculture its full share as a devolving agency, hand in hand with the
industrial contributions.

Men who had been employees of the mills became proprietors of their
own business, he it what it might, for the atmosphere of prosperity was
here, and the spirit was buoyantly "Forward." They created
avenues into which latent talent could turn and were responsible for the
new lines of manufacturing which was assuming a diversified character
instead of the one great interest, lumber. The agricultural prosperity
naturally dictated a factory to supply farming tools and for several
years such an industry, including foundry, machine shops, wood working
and finishing was a prosperous and aggressive institution, employing
many operatives. Another result of agricultural expansion was a factory
making creameries, and it was a power in educating the farmers into a
proper appreciation of the value of their grazing land and cows. A soap
factory was another industry that was eminently prosperous and
accumulated wealth. Unostentatiously this wealth was invested and was
steadily increased into an estate of generous proportions. Through these
years of accumulating, the owner cherished a thought of returning to the
city that gave him his home and competency, a monument of his
gratefulness. Therefore, when James J. Hurley was called to his eternal
rest it was found that he had generously endowed a hospital for the city
of Flint.

Pump factories added their usefulness tot he needs of the developing
country and contributed to the aggregate of the city's manufacturing,
until the more modern drive-well largely replaced the wooden pump. Broom
factories have been a part of the manufacturing interests for many
years. The manufacture of clothing, both for men and women, has at
different times been of importance. A shoe factory was organized here at
one time, hoping to develop a business along lines that have made other
localities wealthy, but conditions were not favorable and after a year
or two it was dismantled,. A table factory was another institution that
offered work to craftsmen in wood, and for several years did a large
business and drew generous earnings to the city. The receding of the
lumber supply made operations too expensive, and its activities ceased.
Before Begole-Fox & Company suspended ,lumbering operations they had
provided for utilizing their property for further manufacturing
enterprises. The water-power site was sold to F. R. Lewis, who organized
a paper manufacturing industry, making a market for all the surplus
straw of the farming community. His product was straw wrapping paper and
straw aboard. Eventually there was added a plant utilizing this straw
board in making egg crates in large quantities.

Cigars came to be manufactured in flint in 1875, when Myer Ephraim
started a little shop. Others were attracted tot he business and
succeeded. Graduated from Ephraim factory, they essayed a business
career for themselves, or employees became employers. So new factories
were created and they seemed invariably to fill a need and increased the
aggregate of business. Gradually Flint has come to be a cigar
manufacturing center, with a dozen large factories, making and shipping
thousands of dollars worth of manufactured tobacco annually and
distributing good earnings to the hundreds of skilled operatives. The
traveling forces of these factories cover a wide territory and a large
clientele looks to Flint for their cigar stocks. It is to the credit of
the industry that healthful conditions for work prevail in all the
factories and that the profits have added not a little to home making in
the city,.

"The only factory of its kind in the world," was the
announcement of another institution started primarily to introduce a
Flint invention; a novel revolving device for displaying hats.

But it so happened that the manufacture of vehicles has come to be
the dominant, but by no means the sole interests of industrial Flint,
and around the word, "Vehicle" are now united all of life's
phases for many individuals, families, societies and business interests
of the city. In 1869, W. A. Petersen came to Flint, started a small
carriage and repaid shop, and there in was born the industry that has
come to be Flint's trade. This business was for many years almost
entirely local in character and of exceedingly modest volume, but by the
force of splendidly directed efforts it has advanced to a commanding
commercial position. The Begole-Fox & company lumber yard became the
site of the Flint Wagon Works.

In 1886 W. C. Durant became owner of a patent on a road cart and
invited J. D. Dort to join him in the manufacturing venture, which
eventuated in the largest manufacturing institution of the city, the
Durant-Dort Carriage company and its allied interests. The real
introduction of all three of these big factories to the market of the
world was through the road cart which enjoyed a wonderful wave of
popularity from 1885 to 1895 and in the manufacture of which all three
institutions were heavily involved during that period. Looking down upon
this industry from the heights of present knowledge, it almost seems as
though advanced sheets of the book of futurity might have been spread
out before those responsible for the management. It was not fortune, but
business ability and business foresight that has given Flint this
preeminence. As time passed along a fixed purpose formed and a stead
advance toward the attainment of that purpose has made Flint the Vehicle
City. Also, as the industry has advanced, men whose experience and
training with the growing industry have made them valuable, have been
drawn within the circle of administration; have been admitted into
councils; have been assigned to execute positions and by their
experience and their genius have contributed their quota to Flint's
success. Around the home of the complete vehicle are clustered factories
for many of the component accessories, and with the very fact of
manufacturing itself has come the idea of a manufacturing district,
equipped with everything conductive to ideal working conditions, coupled
with homes and enjoyable environment readily accessible. The very nature
of the coming of the present plants intimate the eventual coming fo
more.

A NORMAL AND LEGITIMATE GROWTH.

Flint's manufacturing development was never characterized by a
scramble to take advantage of existing condition, but came about in an
orderly way; as needs were felt, the response came upon that solid
foundation which, with business judgment, insures success. In the early
days of the carriage industry, W. F. Stewart commenced making buggy
bodies and wood work. His experiences have been but those of the
industry to which he was allied and, by thought, study and energy, he
kept pace with its march of progress and contributed a goodly proportion
to the sum total of Flint's commercialism. So the Armstrong Spring Works
came into existence and has justified its right to be continued and
increasing usefulness. So came the Imperial Wheel Company, an
institution all over vehicledon as the largest and best wheel plant in
the world. Its equipment includes mills and forest areas in the South to
supply its timber requirements. The history of the automobile industry
would show that tat about the beginning of the Twentieth century it has
passed all experimental stages and was a fixed element in the world's
business. The management of the wheel plant, perceiving the
possibilities promptly equipped its factory to supply automobile wheels
and today Flint furnishes the majority of these wheels for American
cars. Attracted by the vehicle interests, the Flint Axle Works
established a plant in farm lands just outside the city limits, but the
municipal boundaries were soon expanded to insure it fire and police
protection. The flint Varnish Works soon followed into the same
locality, known as Oak Park, where an ideal manufacturing center was
created. The Michigan Paint Company has a history like many other
industries more or less allied to the vehicle interests--of a small
beginning and expansion. The Flint Woolen Mills which were so important
in early development were later discontinued. The Flint Specialty
Company makes the whipsockets of the world. A tannery was established to
make carriage leathers and another factory furnished buggy boots, aprons
and cut leather necessities. This detail is not exploitation, but an
exposition of the result of concentrating every fibre of business
ability and thought into channels of progress along a specific line.
Modern geographies will tell you that Flint is noted as producing more
vehicles than any other city in the world; therefore, it is not
particularly surprising that accessory interests would ally themselves
with a locality that can offer such a market and attract such attention,
and it is easy to comprehend what a wide publicity must result for Flint
when such an output is being spread over the earth by the selling corps
of all the factories. The permanent character ofd their equipment is the
best comment on the question of their success and their gradually
increasing shipments to other vehicle centers is the evidence of their
profitable operation and expansion.

Like the lumbering operations of early years, these varied vehicle
industries have attracted to the city, mechanics and operatives of many
kinds. Young people have grown up with the business and have attained to
responsible position in divers lines. They have been graduated from the
college of experience, and have gone as proprietors or managers
elsewhere. Merit is recognized and appreciated while organized
promotions develop both talent and loyalty. Their business or mechanical
education is not all that the management has done to make condition
attractive to the great body of helpers and co-workers. The various
vehicle and accessory companies have equipped a splendid club with
reading, billiards, bowling, bath and gymnastic rooms. The operatives
themselves maintain it, as well as a generous sick and accident benefit
association. An organization effort for beautifying landscapes in
resident sections is another interesting element of this community idea.

[Note: The excellent article by Mr. Aldrich was written in 1905 and
before the city of Flint became on the greatest manufacturing centers
for automobiles in the world,]

FENTON

The manufacturing industries of Fenton have shown a steady
development since the late fifties. The first saw-mill and grist-mill
there, built about 1837 on the Shiawassee River by Wallace Dibble,
Robert LeRoy and William M. Fenton, did a great service for the
settlement of this part of the county. The old mill gave place to one
built on the same site by Riker & Adams in 1858. This mill was
burned and a new one was pout up, later owned by Messrs. Colwell and
Adams, who entered into business in 1867. Mr. Colwell was a native of
Livingstone County, and Mr. Adams came here from the army after the
close of the Civil War. The mill stood on the site of the original one
built by LeRoy & Fenton, who, in 1876, expended twenty-one thousand
dollars upon it in repairs and improvements. From August 1, to November
1,. 1877, ten thousand barrels of flour were ground at this mill. The
warehouse was built in 1865 by J. R. Mason on the east side of LeRoy
street immediately north of the railroad. Before the fire of April 24,
1879, this firm was engaged to a large extent in the manufacture of
lumber, coopers' material and barrels, but their mills were destroyed at
that time.

About 1855-56 Samuel G. Alexander located in Fenton. He was an
Englishman by birth and a practical worker in woolen cloth. He had
formerly been employed in the mills of the Messrs. Stearns, at
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and upon coming to Fenton engaged in buying
wool and selling cloths for the Pittsfield mills. He in time started a
small woolen-factory here, but for want of capital could do but little.
Finally the citizens became interested, and on the 15th of
October, 1864d, the Fenton Manufacturing

Company was organized with a capital stock of sixty thousand
dollars, taken by the principal
business men and farmers in the vicinity. David L. Latourette was
the heaviest stockholder. A large
factory was built and furnished, at a cost of about sixty-four thousand dollars, and the material
manufactured was of the first quality. For some time an
extensive business was transacted. In January, 1868, the stock was
increased to one hundred thousand
dollars. Upon the failure of Mr. Latourette in 1871, and the
consequent collapse of his bank, the woolen-factory was forced to
suspend operation. A. Wakeman
became Latourette's assignee. The factory long stood idle, and its
price to any purchaser continued
to decrease until finally it was bought in the spring of 1873 by Mr.
Wakeman's son, L. B. Wakeman, F. H.
Wright and J. H Earl (the latter of Flint), for eight thousand
dollars, the firm name being Wright, Wakeman & Company. Mr.
Wright purchased a half-interest.
After the great panic of 1873 they continued business until they
had sunk all their capital and the stockholders generally had lost.
They were finally obliged to close
up and make an assignment for the benefit of their creditors. Since
then the factory has not been in
use up to the time it was destroyed. It had furnished employment
for as many as thirty hands and was closed in October, 1877. It was subsequently purchased on a mortgage by
George C. Lee, of Detroit, who owned it when it
was burned. (April 24, 1879) its destruction caused a total loss to
him, as it was uninsured.

A steam carding-mill and wool-manufacturing house was erected in
1871 by S. G. Alexander & son,
after the closing, at that time, of the factory. It was subsequently
transformed into a cotton-batting factory
by the same persons.

The subject of building a
fruit-preserving factory at Fenton was broached to the Citizens
of the place in March, 1873, through the columns of the Fenton
Gazette, by Charles A. Keeler,
but it was not until 1876 that it was established. The dryer first put
in proved unsatisfactory and the
proprietors, Messrs. Buskirk and Britton, inserted a new Williams
machine in its place, which dried the fruit very rapidly and without
changing its color. In the fall of
that year (1876) one hundred bushels of apples were dried daily. The institution was destroyed with others
equally unfortunate in the great fire of April 24, 1879. The Rose Manufacturing Company was
incorporated under the general laws of Michigan
on January 31, 1870. It had commenced fitting up a building at Fenton
about the first of the previous
December and early in March following began operations. It had purchased
All the machinery, tolls, etc., of the Ypsilanti Whip-Socket
Manufacturing Company and, besides
the new varieties, it make all the styles formerly manufactured by the company named. The stock of the Rose
Manufacturing Company was originally ten thousands
dollars. George P. Rose, the patentee of most of the varieties of
sockets made, was the general
manager, superintending the entire work at the factory, the main
office and depository was at Nos. 71
and 73 Jefferson avenue, Detroit. The goods made were at that
time undoubtedly the finest the country produced. The rooms in use
occupied three stories of a building
at the north end of LeRoy street, erected for a carriage-manufactory by Cole, Kimball & Campbell. This half
of the building was twenty by sixty feet in dimensions.
The motive-power was furnished by a twenty-horse power engine. Mr.
Rose had been engaged in this
business for some time before coming to Fenton. About thirty-five
varieties of sockets were originally manufactured. A fine japanning
oven was one of the features of the
establishment, in which one thousand could be japanned at once. Malleable iron sockets were cast from patterns made by Mr. Rose.
Tubular sockets were also made and an extensive trade was worked up from the very
beginning. On south LeRoy street was
a large brick building which was erected originally by Messrs.
Hirst and Boyes for use a a grist-mill and oil-mill. It was operated
by them about a year and was
purchased in 1869 by A. J. Philips, who converted it into a pump and
safe factory. Mr. Philips
manufactured very find iron and porcelain-lined pumps, double and single water-drawers, and mile-safes of all
kinds. Planing, matching, sawing, and resawing,
turning, etc., were also done to order and a good business was
transacted annually.

Thomas Whittle had operated a brewery on a small scale previous to
1870 in a building north of the
river and west of LeRoy street. In the year named he, in company with Messrs. Colwell and Adams, built a
brick brewery. About 1854-56 a foundry was started
by henry VanAlstine, who came to Fenton from Byron, Shaiwassee county.

Besides numerous other articles, he manufactured what were known as
"Empire" plows and had a
fair custom. The establishment was later town by Messrs. L. Fitch and
son.

The Messrs. Fitch were proprietors of this foundry from the fall of
1873. Mr. Firth, Sr., was one of the
pioneers of Oakland county, having removed to the township of Oxford, from Genesee county, New York, in 1839.

The Fenton Novelty Works were established by H. S. Andrews about
April 1, 1878. Picture-frames in all styles, rustics, brackets, etc., were
manufactured. Mr. Andrews was one of the earliest emigrants from New York to
Michigan. In 1820, when a boy, he came with his father, Ira Andrews, upon the steamer,
"Walk-in-the-Water." The first upon Lake Erie, from Buffalo, New York, to Detroit, where his
father became one of the early hotel-keepers. Mr. Andrews, Sr., afterwards removed to
West Bloomfield, Oakland county, and died in Birmingham. In 1844 H. S. Andrews
worked at his trade, that of blacksmith, in Fenton, subsequently moved away, but
ultimately returned. For years before moving here he was well acquainted with the region and
when a boy was personally acquainted with Rufus Stevens, the first settler in
Grand Blanc. Mr. Andrews for some time owned and kept the Andrews House, in Fenton, later

King's Hotel. He wrote numerous historical articles for the press, all interesting
descriptions of the early settlement of the region which was so long his home.

The only establishment operated in 1880 by water (since the burning
of the saw-mills) was the grist-mill of Colwell & Adams, and this not
entirely. Steam was used to a great extent, especially in case of low water, and the same
motive-power was also utilized in other manufactories. The Shiawassee river, although but a small
stream, furnished a remarkable amount of power, and that without flooding as extensive
a tract as would be supposed from the nature of its shores. Later, the
Philips family, father and sons, operated one of the largest window screen factories in
the country.

FLUSHING.

At Flushing a woolen factory and carding machine was
early operated. It was finally discontinued in that capacity and became part
of a flouring-mill, which was afterwards burned. A saw-mill on the west side of the
river was originally built by Messrs. Cull and Warner for a sash-factory. A furnace
near the west end of the bridge was originally built for an ashery by Mr. Henderson,
of Flint, and converted into a furnace by Ogden Clarke. Green & Langdon used it
for a time as an ashery. A shingle-factory on the north side of the street, west of the
bridge, belonged to Mr. Willett, and a saw-mill and rake-factory near it was owned by Mrs.
Henry French and managed by Smith & Martin. The village contained also the
usual number of mechanic-shops found in a place of its size. There is no location in
Michgian furnishing better advantages for manufacturing than Flushing.

History of Genesee
County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions
by Edwin O. Wood, LL.D, President Michigan Historical Commission, 1916